The Hot Kid

Elmore Leonard, the Detroit crime novelist who saw more than two dozen of his gritty works adapted into films, died Tuesday at age 87, less than a month after suffering a stroke, his official website confirmed.

"Elmore passed away this morning at 7:15 AM at home surrounded by his loving family," a message on the site reads.

Leonard, known to friends and family as "Dutch," was born in New Orleans but moved to Detroit before he was 10 and had lived in the area ever since. Known for his snappy dialogue, he originally wrote westerns but later moved into crime fiction, for which he would become famous.